The Shrine

The new album sucks. It really strange that Mike is even on this album, because he sure doesn't seem to rap on this one. I don't hear much of the DJ (Mr. Hahn), either. It's not Linkin Park, despite the title. It might as well be called Chester's solo project.

Fort Minor, Mike's solo project, is alright, but it's essentially a rap album. Mostly just rapping with a beat machine. (Step 1: Find a beat to repeat over and over again, Step 2: Rap over beat, Step 3: Profit!) Hahn is on a few songs, but it's sparse. It's not Linkin Park, either.

There isn't really a Linkin Park anymore. The band that put out their first album called Hybrid Theory can't really be called a "Hybrid" of anything. The two sides have seemed to have fractioned off. It used to be a band that was unique even among "rap-rock" bands, as you rarely have a band with the balance of a rapper/singer duo, along with a turntablest and a rock band.

Now, with Chester dominating the vocals, it's just some whiny little bullshit. Hopefully, with enough disdain from the public, they can get back to their balance for the next album.

I think I found 1 or maybe 2 songs I liked on the new album, but you're right-- nothing close to the original stuff.

I hate Linkin Park and love Fort Minor. It's like Linkin Park minus the whiny emo bitching. "Where'd You Go" is still one of my fave songs ever.

For me, while I don't like the emo whining as well, there's got to be somebody there to keep Mike in check. The guy's got a huge ego on him, and it reflects in his songs. Besides, the beats are just that, beats. Nothing else interesting in the music besides a beat that was made from an hour's worth of work and some lyrics.

IMO, it's not rap unless there's a lot of record scratching.

I was dissapointed with Linkin Park's latest, but I do like Given Up, Bleed it Out and No More Sorrow (tracks 2, 4 and 8). But in total, the album, and even those songs, don't seem to have the same depth their previous two albums had.

Nev wrote:I hate Linkin Park and love Fort Minor. It's like Linkin Park minus the whiny emo bitching. "Where'd You Go" is still one of my fave songs ever.

Shush! We know you love Linkin Park! I've seen your emo posts before =P

I really actually don't. I mean, they're ok and all, but I've never actually hit the "Play" button on anything involving Linkin Park media in my life.

Fort Minor is different. Sine, I agree that Shinoda has a huge ego, but that's not uncommon in hip-hop. It's part of the appeal of the culture for some people. Kanye's very self-involved too - probably the majority of rappers are today, in some way. That said, he's a tremendous musician and has recruited a pretty powerful roster for Fort Minor. At least he's also intelligent, and tends to explore something more than bling rapping - look at "Kenji" for an example of that. Good music transcends that stuff, at least to me.